California Solar Energy Industries Association (CalSEIA) estimates that net metering caps will be reached in San Diego Gas & Electric Company's (SDG&E) service area in April and in Pacific Gas & Electric Company's (PG&E) service area in August.

Utility customers who own PV systems at their homes or businesses will receive retail-rate credits for the electricity they generate, minus “non-bypassable” charges of around US$0.02 per kilowatt-hour, which CalSEIA says is a workable solution. These non-bypassable charges will also be applied to virtual net metering systems.

PV system owners will also move to mandatory time-of-use rates in 2018, except San Diego customers, who will have a five-year period to transition from tiered rates. This will not affect businesses and farms which participate in net metering, as such customers are already on mandatory time-of-use rates. Finally, the commission imposed a $150 application fee for new customers in the program.

“It’s hard not to feel good right now in California,” CalSEIA Executive Director Bernadette Del Chiaro told pv magazine. “It was a 3-2 vote and a real nail-biter, but at the end of the day California just protected net metering and that’s huge.” ...